


Wheel of the year

by StillWatersAreDeep



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Beltane, F/M, Imbolc, Knotting, M/M, Samhain, What-If
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-07-29 12:28:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7684519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StillWatersAreDeep/pseuds/StillWatersAreDeep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three stories that begin with a celebration of nature and the desire of the flesh but whether fortuna's wheel chooses an elleth, an ellon or a woman to be paired with Thranduil will lead the king of the Woodland Realm down a different path in life. (See prologue for detailed description of the three stories)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** _ The world of J.R.R. Tolkien is owned by Tolkien Enterprises and/or New Line Cinema. No money is made from these stories.  _

 

 **Note** **:** I watched each of the LotR and Hobbit films at least three times but read the books only once. So do not expect any elfish words to be included.

 

 **Rating:** M.

 

 **Warning:** This story will contain some more or less light BDSM elements in the sexual scenes of the Woodland Realm festivals (voyeurism/exhibition included), but will tend to be rather on the vanilla side afterwards.

 

 **Important:** The three stories **Beltane, Samhain** and **Imbolc** will share the following prologue which give them their names. They can be read independently of each other. I'll post the index overview once more chapter are written and posted.

 

 **AN:** The following prologue gives you an idea about 3 Thranduil/OC stories I have in mind. Feedback on them is very much wanted and appreciated.

 

 

_**Wheel of the Year** _

 

_**~Prologue~** _

 

_**by StillWatersAreDeep** _

 

 

The wheel of life, the wheel of the seasons, the wheel of the year; all of these circles that measure the passing of time may be important for mankind, but if you have lived on this earth as long as the elves of the Woodland Realm, with eternity still ahead of them, all these wheels mean relatively little to them.

 

However, if you combine the wheel of the year with the wheel of fortune and add sexual incentives and some folklore stories of mankind into the mix, the wheel of the year again becomes interesting for the elves of the Woodland Realm. The folklores of 'The Queen of May and the Winter King', 'Aine and her two possible husbands Manannan and Ailill Ollamh' as well as 'The abduction of Persephone' were chosen to give the eight festivals of the wheel of the year a screenplay to entertain the uneventful life of the Woodland Realm elves. _Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh, Mabon, Samhain, Yule_ and _Imbolc_ which make up the Wheel of the Year, were divided as follows between the three folklore.

 

 _Beltane_ and _Yule_ would in one year tell the story of the Queen of May who had an obedient Winter King during _Beltane_ , but at _Yule_ , she would be the one to submit to the Winter King. The elves to play the two figures chosen at random by blindly drawing a stone out of a box. Depending on the chemistry between the King and the Queen this events could be either dull or very, very intense in nature.

 

In the following three years the story of Persephone's abduction would be played out with a little twist. The actors Hades, Dionysus, Demeter and Persephone. It all began on _Samhain_ of the first year. During the festival of the Death Dionysus and Hades would drink too much wine, making them lower their inhibitions and eventually ending up in bed. This act awoke the wish of having a wife to regularly share his bed in Hades. So in the next year the god of the Underworld asked Dionysus to seduce Demeter and give her more than a fare share of his potent wine during the harvest festival _Lughnasadh._ Demeter, thus incapacitated by a hangover, would not notice that Hades abducted her daughter Persephone during _Mabon_ and made her his bed companion. The play ended on _Ostara_ of the third year, where Demeter would finally have her daughter returned to her. Here, every actor except Persephone were randomly chosen, as the actor of Hades had the right to select his own Persephone out of the _Mabon_ visitors.

 

And then we have _Imbolc_ and _Litha_. During _Imbolc_ an elleth would be crowned as Aine and she would be task to walk the festival grounds until she either met the ellon playing Manannan or Ailill. If she met Manannan, _Imbolc_ and _Litha_ would be spend in gentle lovemaking. But if Aine met Ailill, the King known in man's folklore to have raped her, the two festivals would be a battle of dominance between the two.

 

But as lovely, exciting and enthralling these celebrations of sexually interpreted folklore were, it were the actors who made the stories interesting. While all Woodland Realm elves who attended the celebrations knew that they could be chosen to play one of the figures, many of them did not think what taking part in the play could mean for their life after the celebration. They thought that behind the masks their identities would be concealed, save from any consequences in the years to come. And even contraception was not a concern. After all, it was well known that only a couple that was truly meant to be could conceive a child. So, while many players parted after the stories were told, there are three stories that drastically changed the lives of the actors.

 

 **Beltane** , tells the story of a young elleth who was chosen to play the Queen of May with Thranduil, the Prince of the Woodland realm being her Winter King. Only her training as a healer allowed her to recognised who hid behind the mask with the unique scar on the hip. What is she to do when she realised that she is with child as the realm celebrates the Prince's marriage to another elf?

 

 **Samhain** will show you how the story of Beltane could have unfolded if it was not an elleth but rather a young elllon who played the role of Dionysus during Samhain, seducing Prince Thranduil acting as Hades. What will he do when he finds himself with child and soon after gets appointed as Thranduils private healer, looking after him as the Prince and later King enjoys the life of a married man?

 

 **Imbolc** , tells the story of a young woman of the race of man, sister to Aragon, healer apprentice of Elrond. During a visit to the Woodland Realm, she is enchanted by the idea of Imbolc and when she join the festival she is crowned as Aine. She knows that she can bring King Thranduil happiness again, but she is also aware that her mortality will bring him even greater pain in the end. So what will she do when she is forced to seek either Manannan, played by Thranduil or Ailill, figurately representing Denethor. If Denethor ever found out her existence, he would not hesitate to force her to become his wife and kill her brother to ensure that he would change from being steward to king of Gondor.

 

Three stories that begin with a celebration of nature and the desire of the flesh but whether fortuna's wheel chooses an elleth, an ellon or a woman to be paired with Thranduil will lead the king of the Woodland Realm down a different path in life.

 

So where did the wheel of fortune stop when you spun it? On Samhain? On Imbolc? Or was it Beltane?

 

_**~ Wheel of the Year ~** _

 

**AN:** So, which of the three stories would you like to read first? Or does neither of  t hem interest you?


	2. Chapter 1: Beltane-Part I

**Warnings:** Description of enema usage

 

**AN:** Since I did not receive any reviews so far, I will start with the story of Beltane.

 

 

_**Wheel of the Year** _

 

_**~Chapter 1:** _ **Beltane-Part I** **_~_ **

 

_**by StillWatersAreDeep** _

 

Hiding. It didn't matter what gender or race Thranduil's mate was bestowed with, in the end she or he always ended up hiding. Either from Thranduil to not stand between him and his wife, or from her own bloodline and mortal fate. This also reflected in the name that was bestowed upon Thranduil's mate by their mother. _Esgalcalien_ , the daughter of the hidden light. _Esgal_ _caldir_ , the son of the hidden light. _Aresgal_ , the hiding royal.

 

But than hiding behind the mask of anonymity during the Woodland Realm's Wheel of the Year festivals was also the reason why so many years passed before Thranduil would finally connected with his beloved. The longest wait out of the three possible fates occurred when Esgalcalien was named the Queen of May during the Woodland Realm's Beltane festival during a time when Isildur was still alive.

 

**~ Wheel of the Year ~**

 

Guldurien, daughter of black magic, this is what the residents of the Woodland Realm called the young healer apprentice, even though her mother Istel named her Esgalcalien. Istel had been gifted with foresight, granting her the title 'Seer of the Woodland Realm' when her predecessor decided to have lived in Middle Earth long enough and faded. And it was exactly this gift of foresight that made a pack of orcs decide to kidnap her specifically. While king Oropher and his warriors were able to rescue her, it was soon discovered that Istel was with child.

 

By law the Seer of the Woodland Realm was forbidden to enter a relationship, less their attached heart clouds their vision, making it focus on the lover rather than the good of all of the Woodland Realm. They asked Istel who she'd lain with, but she remained silent. So the king asked for the ellon to reveal himself, promising that their would be no consequences for him. No one stepped forward. And so, it was assumed that it was not an elf that Istel had lain with, but rather that one of the orcs had raped her during her imprisonment.

 

When Esgalcalien was born, she showed no signs of having a drop of orc blood in her, but still, with no elf claiming to be her father, she was labelled an orc half breed, gaining her the name Guldurien. But Esgalcalien did not mind the gloomy name as long as the elves still allowed her to heal them when they were in need of her skill. She had to thank king Oropher for that.

 

Before Istel parted for the undying lands, having been discharged from her position as the Seer, she'd revealed to her daughter and to king Oropher only one thing about Esgalcalien's father: It was an ellon who she'd met during the Wheel of the Year celebration. She did not recognise him. She could have tried to find him through her gift of foresight, but she rather not try. Focusing on it would cloud her vision from what was really important she'd claimed. And besides, for all she knew, he could be a married elf and she did not want to intrude into a marriage. As for her daughter, she hoped that she would make her own way in life, who her father was would not change that. This Istel knew.

 

And she was right. When Oropher commanded the healers to take Esgalcalien on as an apprentice, they initially let their prejudice and fear rule. In the end, it was king Oropher and prince Thranduil's own private healer, Glaewon who took Esgalcalien on as his apprentice. A year passed and then another and slowly the other elves in the healing ward realised that Esgalcalien was talented in the art of healing. _Surely the child of an orc could never be such a gifted healer?_ _They thought._

 

And so, slowly through hard work and sometimes luck, Esgalcalien was at least able to gain some acquaintances that did not regard her with fear and suspicion. But still the name Guldurien stuck. Thus, once her mother left, no one in the Woodland Realm ever called her by her true name again, not even king Oropher.

 

After two years of only studying herbs, salves and practising on animals, she was proclaimed knowledgeable enough to see to the Woodland elves. Esgalcalien was overjoyed to finally prove herself to the other occupants of the realm, hoping to also gain their respect over time. However, to Esgalcalien great dismay, her patients were even more wary of her than her fellow healers had initially been. But she was born in a time when the whole of Middle Earth was fighting against Sauron and his dark forces, so every extra pair of healing hands was needed.

 

In the end, it was was prince Thranduil who, having heard of her good work from Glaewon, made a statement and demanded that Guldurien see to the wounds he'd received during the latest attack of the orcs. After that, more of the realms warriors allowed her to tend to their wounds. And as the fight against Sauron and his orcs continued, the wounded and the dying coming into the healing ward, there were only a few elves left that refused to be treated by Guldurien. Some even starting to request her specifically when they experienced that her salves worked faster than the salves of other healers.

 

But still, Esgalcalien practically lived her life in social isolation. When she was not learning in the healer ward under the watchful eyes and guidance of healer Glaewon, she would be out in the surrounding forest, collecting herbs for her salves and elixirs. The evenings and long winter months were mostly spend in the library. Besides the many tomes on healing written in both Silvan and Sindarin, there were also some books in Westron. While these books were useful for researching plants and repeating and cross-referencing what Glaewon had taught, they did not hold any new knowledge. No, it were the old and dust covered tomes that Esgalcalien spend hours looking over, slowly but methodically translating their content, trying out the herbal mixtures and treatments they suggested.

 

The nearly forgotten knowledge of healing was preserved in the old books written in Eldarin and Quenya. And, at least to Esgalcalien, it seemed like the more dangerous knowledge of healing had been archived in a language the no elf would ever think to learn: Black Speech. It took Esgalcalien nearly six months before she was able to acquire a dictionary from a travelling salesman in Esgaroth. Black Speech was not an easy language to translate and even less comfortable to learn. It felt to Esgalcalien that the language itself was tainted with evil. And the more Esgalcalien read the more she understood why Black Speech had been chosen.

 

The knowledge the books revealed was powerful, yes, but they heavily relied on the inner elven light of the healer. Only the pure of heart with a strong elven light would be able to overcome the inherent darkness and force it to heal instead of damage. Others were causing the healer to walk a fine line between doing good and cursing either themselves or their patient. And yet others could be a poison when twenty poppy seeds were used, but healed blood poisoning when twenty one seeds were added to the elixir. Twenty two seeds turned the elixir back into a poison.

 

Esgalcalien asked healer Glaewon about the elixir with the poppy seeds, wanting to understand the chemistry behind the different properties. Healer Glaewon told her that no one who currently lived in the Woodland realm ever studied these aspects of healing. If she wanted to learn more, she would have to ask Lord Elrond to take her on as his student. And while he did not command her to stop, he forbid her from using the knowledge she learned in the books without her patient's explicit permission, warning them how sensitive these creams and elixirs were if only a slight mistake was made in the production process. They never spoke of what Esgalcalien learned in the books again.

 

As her reading skills in Black Speech progressed over the course of a year, the translations became faster and the language started to feel less evil to Esgalcalien. It was at that time when she started to translate a book that described healing rituals. From her elven healing, she knew that sometimes words in combination with the healer's inner elven light and herbs could heal illnesses that mankind were unable to cure. Her studies on similar Eldarin and Quenya healing rituals had taught Esgalcalien that translating the words to Sindarin did not lessen the rituals effects. But when she tried the Black Speech ritual with Sindarin words, she did not observe any effects.

 

And so, after some failed attempts in using the Black Speech, her pronunciation of some words must be off, she decided and sneaked into the dungeons, listening to the imprisoned orcs and hoping to learn the correct pronunciation from them. Two months later, her effort was rewarded with her first successfully performed Black Speech ritual on an injured squirrel.

 

In the beginning of her last year as an apprentice her studies of the Black Speech based healing paid off. The orcs had started to use a new poison and while all of the Woodland Realm's healers tried their best to find an antidote, they did not succeed. They first lost five, then seven, then another three elves before Esgalcalien had enough courage to step forward. She believed that the antidote healer Glaewon had created was correct, but for it to counteract the poison, it had to be used as a part of a ritual, a ritual that would require the use of Black Speech. When another four wounded elves with the same symptoms of poisoning arrived, she asked to try it. Esgalcalien could see distrust, fear and scepticism in their eyes, but those elves had nothing to lose at that point, so they hesitantly agreed to let her try. It took some time, but slowly and surely the elves regained their old strength, the colour returned to their skin and they lived to fight another battle.

 

While grateful for her actions, the open use of the Black Speech only fuelled the old rumours of her being half orc. “Guldurien, black magic indeed,” some said. “When the old and wise healers of the Woodland Realm cannot cure an ailment, then only the blackest magic can.” But Esgalcalien ignored their words as best as she could, instead concentrating on the lives she'd been able to save and taking as much joy as she could from that thought.

 

It was during her final months as a healer apprentice, when the engagement of prince Thranduil was announced. King Oropher's wife had died in childbirth, thus there was no female healer who would care for the new princess of the Woodland Realm like Glaewon saw to the king's and prince's special health needs.

 

As much as the elves of the Woodland Realm enjoyed the open lovemaking during the Wheel of the Year festivals, when it came to the life outside of the festival grounds, they strongly preserved decorum. A female healer may heal a male warrior's wounds on the upper body and legs in the present of other elves, but she was not allowed to tend to the wounds near their groin area and even a chest wound should not be treated with only the two of them present. After a fight, the healing ward was always so full of warriors and healers alike that one never needed to worry about propriety. When it concerned the preventive medical examinations, preserving decorum became another matter.

 

Glaewon suggested Guldurien to Thranduil and Oropher. She may just finish her training in two months, but she was the best female healer that was in their service. While king Oropher agreed, Guldurien had shown her talent and dedication to the art of healing when she healed his warriors from the new poison, Thranduil was sceptical. Guldurien was just 25 years old, not even a legal adult yet and she was supposed to look after the love of his life? His Gilorndes? He did not want to lose Gilorndes like his father lost his mother.

 

Glaewon assured them that if Guldurien had been male, he would have named her his successor for the king's and prince's private healer. In the end, Glaewon could persuade Thranduil to give Guldurien a chance. The one thing that had Thranduil worried the most was that a complications during the pregnancy or childbirth went unnoticed because the healer was not good enough in seeing inside an elf's body. As Thranduil's own once in a yen preventive medical examinations was approaching, Glaewon suggested that Guldurien could perform the examination this yen. He would be present too, of course, to oversee the process and preserve the decorum.

 

Thranduil lived long enough to have undergone his fair share of preventive medical examinations and knew that it took skill to successfully examine what was hidden behind layers of skins and muscles. Besides, this examination allowed the patient too feel the inner light of the healer, so he could experience how far inside his body she could reach. And while he did not like the thought of another person seeing him like that—the examination was very intimate after all—he felt that it was a small price to pay for the security and ease of mind he would gain from it.

 

And thus, a sunny April morning found Guldurien and Glaewon entering Thranduil's private chambers to perform the preventive medical examination. “My prince Thranduil,” Esgalcalien and Glaewon greeted.

 

“Guldurien, healer Glaewon,” the prince replied and led them towards his bedroom where the examination would take place.

 

Esgalcalien felt awkward. She was not nervous about successfully perform the examination. What made her uncomfortable was that today would be the first time that she would see an ellon's sex. She'd seen drawings in books, but never did she see one in real life. And it seems fate wanted her first view of the male's reproduction organs to be the prince's. She hoped that she would not come across as unprofessional if she, against her good resolution, ended up staring at the penis and testes.

 

If her body had already lost all of her pubic hair last summer, she could have gone to the Wheel of the Year festival of Litha and stare to her heart's content at the sex of the other gender. But alas, at that time she still had some patches of pubic hair that proclaimed to everyone that she was still a child. _At least elves show their maturity by losing their pubic hair instead of_ _growing pubic hair_ _like_ _humans_ _did,_ she'd thought as she busied herself with preparing the medical instruments she would need for the examination on a table in the corner of the room. _And this year I'll finally able to attend the Beltane festival. Behind the mask, no one will know that I'm not thirty yet,_ she thought happily, her skin from the head down finally smooth and hairless since the end of February.

 

_Y_ _es, definitely a fit adult ellon,_ Esgalcalien thought in approval when she finally looked up from her preparation and saw the prince taking off his leggings, leaving him in only his loin cloth, which would be taken off soon too.

 

“Did you already clean yourself?” Esgalcalien asked. Seeing inside an elf's body required their stomach and bowel to be filled with a special herbal tincture. The more of the tincture was inside the body, the easier it was for the healer to see the inner organs. Therefore, the first step in the preventive medical examination was to flush out the elf's bowels. While many elves preferred to do this themselves—it was embarrassing enough without anyone witnessing the event—there were some elves who preferred the healer to perform this task.

 

“I did,” Thranduil answered as he carefully folded his loin cloth and placed it on a nearby vanity bench with the rest of his clothing.

 

Against her best intentions, Esgalcalien did look at the prince's groin. Based from the books, she would say that it was about average in length and maybe slightly thicker than what was normal. But the shape of a flaccid cock did not say much on how large it would grow when fully aroused and even then it will further increase in size if the elf knotted. Realizing that she'd been staring, she quickly looked away, her cheeks turning pink in embarrassment. Hopefully neither man had noticed where her gaze had lingered.

 

Opposed to Esgalcalien, Thranduil was not bothered by his nudeness in front of an elleth. He'd attended his fair share of Wheels of the Year festivals. But there he'd dyed his hair black and hid behind a mask, so nobody knew that it was him. That she would be the first elleth to see his body together with his face did annoy him slightly, as he would have liked to reserve this honour for his Gilorndes. _But it can't be help,_ he thought.

 

Esgalcalien filled a goblet with the herbal tincture and handed it over to the prince, keeping her eyes on his face. “Please try to drink two of these before we begin with the enema.”

 

Thranduil took the offered goblet and with a grimace emptied it. While not undrinkable the wormwood in the tonic made its taste slightly bitter. “Why can you not use Dorwinion wine instead?” he asked as he dutifully held out the goblet for a refill.

 

Esgalcalien laughed. “There are people who prefer a good cup of wormwood tea over a goblet of Dorwinion wine.”

 

“And you are one of them?” he asked.

 

“I am,” Esgalcalien confirmed. “Once you warm up to the taste, it is an exquisite drink that, opposed to your beloved wine, does not cloud once senses but rather sharpens them. But do not worry, the next glasses of the tonic will not go down your throat,” she said and motioned for him to take a seat on the bed while she moved a chair next to the bed.

 

Glaewon, who had watched the proceeding silently from the doorway, kindly helped Esgalcalien to carry the enema equipment from the table over to the bed.

 

“Please lie on your preferred side and get comfortable. It should take about thirty minutes,” Esgalcalien informed Thranduil as she placed a towel in the middle of the bed to protect the fine linens from any potentially spilled tonic.

 

“I know,” Thranduil answered as he laid down on his right side, his back facing Esgalcalien. “It's not the first time I'm having a check up, Guldurien.” he chided. The unspoken ' _unlike you'_ was heard by all of them.

 

_It's not like I can change my age,_ Esgalcalien thought, taking a seat on the chair and tried her best to not let her anger affect her work when she put on a thin leather glove on her left hand. She dipped her gloved fore finger into the small basin with camomile oil and then used her right hand to hold Thranduil's cheeks apart so that her finger could lubricate the anus. Esgalcalien dipped her finger into the oil again and again until she was satisfied with the lubrication. Then she took the clean crystal tube that was connected to a deerskin flask and abundantly covered the top part of the tube in oil too before she inserted it into Thranduil's body.

 

Slowly the tonic dripped from the deerskin flask through the tube into Thranduil's bowel. As they waited, Esgalcalien had some moments to study the prince's backside. The right side was hidden from view by his long, pale blond hair, reaching up to his tail bone. His left side was uncovered thought. She could see the strong muscled back, covered in ivory skin and small white lines; old battle scars that were hardly noticeable even if you were looking for them. But these straight lined scars were not unusual for a warrior. So far Esgalcalien had not healed one warrior that did not at least have one of these scars.

 

No, what distinguished Thranduil's body from that of all the other warriors was the uniquely shaped scar on his left hip. The scar was a mixture of a circular burn or maybe the result of a chemical burn, that was overlapped by a thick X-shaped scar. Curious and wanting to fill the silence she asked, “May I asked how you acquainted the scar on your hip?”

 

“You may not,” was Thranduil's cold reply.

 

The wound had been acquired when he'd been a foolish and young ellon and he rather not talk about it. For him it was a symbol of what he'd lost when he'd charged head first into an ambush. If he'd stopped for some moments to really take in the situation and his surroundings, he would have realized that the valley was an ideal hiding places for the enemy, and thus the premature dead of his beloved horse could have been avoided. It was a lesson learned, but the price he'd paid was way too high.

 

He'd received a new horse to replace his dear companion, but Thranduil never found the heart to ride another horse. The hurt of losing his first horse still too fresh in his mind even after hundreds of years. He very much doubted that he would ever ride a horse again if it could be avoided.

 

“I'm sorry,” was all Esgalcalien could answer, deciding that it would be safer for her to remain silent than to commit another blunder.

 

After some more minutes of silence, Thranduil spoke up. “Have you met Gilorndes yet?”

 

“I have not,” Esgalcalien answered.

 

“We wanted to wait until we have your approval before approaching her,” Glaewon informed Thranduil.

 

“Make sure that you meet with her before Litha,” he ordered.

 

“I will,” Esgalcalien assured him. “The flow is slowing down,” she announced, the transparent crystal tube allowing her to watch the movement of the tonic.

 

“I am starting to feel full,” Thranduil said, affirming Esgalcalien's assessment.

 

“If I may,” she asked and at Thranduil's nod, she leaned forward in her chair and placed on hand on his lower back and the other on his stomach, gently massaging the abdomen. “Let it out,” she said in a soft whisper. Thranduil's abdominal muscles tensed. “It's alright,” she continued speaking, her hand still moving in gentle circles. “It's supposed to leave your body,” she encouraged.

 

After a short hesitation, the prince finally allowed the air to leave his body. “Good,” Esgalcalien praised. “The flask is nearly empty. Let's try to get all of it in, yes?” she asked gently and continued with her massage.

 

Another five minutes passed, before Esgalcalien removed the crystal tube and replaced it with a wooden plug. “Very well done,” she praises once more. “Now you only have to drink two more goblets of the tonic and we can start the examination, my prince.”

 

Thranduil set up and leaned his upper body against the headboard. His face still made a grimace when he drank the necessary two additional cups of the tonic. Esgalcalien held back a laugh.

 

“Since you already went through _several_ examinations, you _should know_ to breathe normally when I check your lungs and heart,” Esgalcalien said, not able to resist the little taunt after he so rudely pointed out her lack of experience.

 

Since this time prince Thranduil chose to sit in the middle of the bed, Esgalcalien saw no choice but to get up from her chair and join him on it. She sat to his left, resting her weight on the back of her heels. She placed both of her bare hands on his chest. Concentrating, she called forth her inner elven light, letting it flow through her hands to his body, searching for Thranduil's own light and the tonic to help her see into his body. While she could feel how the tonic responded to her call, gently vibrating in tune with her slowly pulsing light, Thranduil's own light was resisting.

 

“I cannot see anything if you defy me,” she said, looking Thranduil straight in the eyes, a clear challenge written in them.

 

“I thought it's the healer's task to coax their patient's light into behaving as they see fit,” Thranduil answered.

 

“Yes, but only a light that is willing can be guided,” she replied. “You're consciously blocking me,” she told him and saw how he smirked slightly. “The purpose of _this_ ,” Esgalcalien emphasised by pressing her fingers into Thranduil's chest, “is for you to see if my healing and examination skills are sufficient in your eyes. If you wanted a competition of who of us has a stronger light, you should have said so. There're other ways to compare the strength of our lights. Ways that do not involve drinking a wormwood containing tonic,” she added with another press of her fingers.

 

“You sound like you could win,” he said in amusement, his light still resisting her guidance.

 

Their eyes locked, Esgalcalien let her light reach further out, pressing against Thranduil's own light like her fingertips were putting pressure on his chest. Thranduil pressed right back, forcing Esgalcalien to increase the strength even more, her fingers starting to glow softly.

 

“Now let's not forget why we are here,” Glaewon interfered. He now was very glad that Guldurien was female and could not become his successor as the king and prince's private healer. He feared that she and Thranduil would have fought even if the prince was mortally wounded.

 

With a “Humpf” Thranduil gave up his fight and finally allowed Esgalcalien's light to guide his own. Now that he was not putting up any resistance, he could feel how her light encompassed his own, gently but certainly making his light pulse in the rhythm she set. Esgalcalien let their lights mix and send them out through his body, waiting to feel the responding pulses from Thranduil's heart and lungs. As Esgalcalien slowly moved her hands down his chest towards his stomach, the process became easier as the tonic in his stomach and bowel increased the answering vibrations the prince's body sent out in response to her probing.

 

Thranduil relaxed and could feel the warmth penetrating him deeply. If his senses were not betraying him, he would even say that Guldurien was able to reach far deeper inside his body than even Glaewon.

 

“As far as I can tell, your organs are fine,” Esgalcalien stated once she was finished with he examination of his upper body. After a moment of hesitation, she added, “If your left hip troubles you, I would advise to remove the small bone splint that sits underneath your iliacus muscle.”

 

“Only when the weather is changing drastically,” Thranduil answered, surprising Esgalcalien. Considering that the bone splint must have been a result of the mixed burn and scar wound on his hip, she'd feared that he would once again be harsh to her, thus her initial hesitation to even mention the splint.

 

“Than I would advise against removing it. The scar from removing the splint will probably be as weather sensitive,” she said.

 

“Can you show it to me?” the prince asked. In all the yens, Glaewon had never found the splint.

 

“I can try,” Esgalcalien replied and tried to direct Thranduil's own light towards the small bone splint she's sensed. _Prince T_ _hranduil must really be interested,_ Esgalcalien thought, feeling how their lights were joining, mixing together like a weaver connected the strands of yarn to form a cloth instead of her light just enveloping his. It seems like he finally completely submitted to her light.

 

“It's tinny,” Thranduil stated when he felt the bone split.

 

“It is,” Esgalcalien agreed. “And since there are no complications, I see no medical need to remove it.”

 

“Thank you,” Thranduil finally acknowledged Esgalcalien's outstanding work. _Guldurien is good enough to look after Gilorndes,_ he decided.

 

“Would you prefer that Glaewon finishes the examination?” Esgalcalien asked. “Only the groin area remains.”

 

“Yes, I do,” Thranduil replied. “Thank you again for your work. You may leave,” he dismissed her.

 

“I'm at your service, my prince,” she said, bowing formally before she turned around and left the room.

 

“You are satisfied with Guldirien's skills?” Glaewon asked with a knowing smile. There'd been moments when he feared that Thranduil would reject his suggestion and he would need to find another elleth to look after the soon-to-be princess of the Woodland Realm.

 

“I am,” Thranduil answered. “Though I'm starting to think that Guldurien may be better suited as my father's healer. She found something you never detected in yens.”

 

Glaewon just shook his head and set to work; he had an examination to finish. He was not worried about Thranduil's words though, for he knew that how deep one could see inside a body sometimes just depended on how compatible the healer's light was with the light of their patient.

 

**~ Wheel of the Year ~**

 

_At least I did not let Glaewon down,_ Esgalcalien thought with a small smile and went towards her room. A nap sounded good right now. Using her inner light made her tired, even more so since she at first had to work against Thranduil's light.

 

Esgalcalien did not know what to think of the prince. In the beginning he'd been cold, distance and even looked down at her, mainly due to her young age. But during the end, he seemed to have developed some respect for her as a healer. If it was only because she'd found the bone splint or because their lights seemed to merge as she showed him the same splint, she did not know. She could only hope that if the prince agreed to her become his future wife's healer that Gilorndes would be much more welcoming than her husband-to-be.

 

**~ Wheel of the Year ~**

 

**Istel:** Knowlege/Lore; **Glaewon:** Salve; **Gilorndes:** Star Tree

 

**yen:** Elven year, 144 human years

 

**~ Wheel of the Year~**

 

**AN:** I hope that switching between Esgalcalien and Guldurien did not confuse you too much.Your thoughts?


	3. Beltane-Part II

**AN:** To those who gave this story a chance. Here is the next part.

 

_**Wheel of the Year** _

 

_**~Chapter 2:** _ **Beltane-Part I** I _~_

 

_**by StillWatersAreDeep** _

 

It was the end of April when Prince Thranduil made the decision to attend one final Wheel of the Year festival before his marriage to Gilorndes. He knew that once he spoke the vow of faithfulness to her, his heart would not allow him to partake in a sexual relationship with another elf. Since he would marry on Litha this year, the only festival he could attend before then was Beltane. Normally he only attended when the actors of the play were already drawn, like it was during the Yule festival. But he would take his chances. The possibility of him been drawn as the Winter King was so slim that they could be said to be non-existent.

 

So with these thoughts in mind he began to make plans for his festival visit. First, he needed to get his hands on one of the plain masks that were given out for free in the two weeks before a festival. Then, a trip to the market and forest would be in order to get some dye for his hair, as well as some feathers, moss and other decorations for his mask.

 

As Prince Thranduil was soon to learn a one in a million, even a one in a billion chance was still greater than zero and thus, while an unlikely possibility still very much a possibility.

 

**~ Wheel of the Year ~**

 

Esgalcalien knew that she was still considered too young to go to this year’s Beltane festival, but she was not in the mood to wait for another five years until she was officially recognised as an adult. The the last patches of unwanted hair had already fallen out in February so no one would be the wiser. The mask would hid her face and her easy recognisable red hair was dyed to a brown colour, a hot iron would smooth her slightly wavy hair, and thus protect her from people recognising her.

 

_The one advantage of eternal youth. Once you are of-age no one can say if you’re only one yen or two hundred yens old,_ Esgalcalien thought as she put on her mask. She’d painted the white mask in violet, orange and red tones before she drew squiggly twigs in a deep purple colour on it.

 

As for the dress, her mother had left behind some of her old wrap up dresses. In Esgalcalien’s opinion the belt made the red dress show off her womanly curves. She still hoped that her breast would grow in the next years; compared to the other elleths hers were rather small.

 

When she neared the entrance to the festival in the forest glade she felt nervous. As she waited in line, she tried to distract herself with happy thoughts. _Maybe I’ll even become the Queen of May?_ she wondered and laughed softly under her breath . _The thought is ridiculous, though, it would be exciting. Having all of them look up at me, wanting to be in my place._ The respect and admiration that the other elves would show her as the Queen of May would do her soul good, all the years of distrust and rejection having left their mark even if she tried to hid it. Even from herself.

 

She observed as the elves before her were all asked to open their clothes to prove their maturity. Some of them chose to stay naked, or half-naked, hoping that their fit body would attract an equally attractive sexual partner for the night. When she was in front of the line, she too was asked to open her dress to show that she was of-age. She felt how her cheeks turned a deep red, the mask luckily hiding most of it. At the guard’s nod, she quickly re-wrapped the red dress.

 

Now it was her turn to drew a stone from the small orange bag the guard was holding out to her. She already changed her mind about becoming Queen of May. As much as she would love the title, she could do without the obligations that accompanied the respected positions. She aimed to loose her virginity tonight, but she’d rather choose her own ellon than to let a stone decide her partner. Spending the night with just one person that would look at her with lust instead of mistrust would have to be enough.

 

When she placed her hand inside the bag, she felt the cold stones beneath her. _Probably collected from the river bank,_ she guessed based on the smooth surface and different shapes. Not wanting to make the people behind her wait longer than necessary, she quickly closed her hand around a random stone. The stone was green instead of the plain grey ones she saw the elves before her having drawn.

 

“Welcome to Beltane, Queen of May,” the guard with his black mask said when he saw the stone and bowed. A second guard from nearby opened a chest, in which two wooden crowns lay.

 

_Me? Queen of May?_ Esgalcalien was in shock.

 

“If I may?” the second guard who also whore a simple black mask asked when he pulled out the smaller of the two crowns and moved to place it on her head.

 

“Please be at the stage when the second bell rings. You’ll have about thirty minutes to talk with the Winter King, to get acquainted with the available props and to plan the scene you want to play out.”

 

“The second bell?” Esgalcalien asked for confirmation, still in shock.

 

“Yes,” the guard repeated, smiling gently. “The first bell means that the entrance is closed, the second means that the preparations begin and the third and fourth signal the start and the end of the scene between the Queen of May and the Winter King. Fell free to walk around until then,” he said.

 

Still in a trance, she entered the forest glade. With big eyes she took in the decorations. Ropes, decorated with little lamps and garlands of twigs and flowers, had been tied criss-crossed from all sides of the glade, building a canopy between the trees. Pillows and blankets were thrown on the forest floor. Some benches, chairs and tables with food were standing around too.

 

Some elves were already there, sitting on the pillows and benches, talking, feeding each other, kissing or involved in sexual acts. Esgalcalien averted her eyes from the latter scenes, which brought her eyes to the side of the glade where small tents had been erected. There, the more modest elves were protected from prying eyes if they so wished. Though with the lights, one could still see their moving shadows.

 

Esgalcalien felt overwhelmed by all of it. And then her eyes landed in the middle of the glade, where a platform had been erected. _The stage for tonight,_ she though, excitement and nervousness making themselves equally noticed. A four-poster bed made of birch stood in the centre, the pillars were carved with figures. _Probably telling the three_ _Wheel of the Year_ _stories,_ she guessed. Soon, she would be able to let her fingers wander over the fine wood craft. Two birch thrones stood to the right, a side table between them.

 

The thrones awakened her imagination. She already envisioned a kneeling winter king before the throne as she imperiously touched the part of his face that was uncovered, showing her dominance as she trailed one finger down his lips and chin, before she reached the throat and pressed on the windpipe.

 

_Don’t get carried away,_ she chided herself. _You don’t know what he’ll be comfortable with. But I hope that he’s open to experiments,_ she wished.

 

With the circumstance that Beltane was a festival of lust, she was not delusional enough that losing her virginity would be an act of love. Neither was Esgalcalien so naively optimistic that she believed that whoever ellon she was able to attract for herself would allow her all the liberties of exploring his male body to her healer’s heart’s content.

 

The fact that she now was the Queen of May instead of just a normal visitor of the Beltane festival would make the loss of her virginity an even less intimate event, however, and this thought was cheering her up immensely, the Winter King was supposed to submit to her, opening the opportunity to explore the male body as part of the play.

 

Esgalcalien decided to sit down on one of the pillows near the edge of the glade. With a cup of juice and some fruits, she watched the other elves around her as she waited for the second bell to ring. She took in the atmosphere around her, trying to inconspicuous spy on the naked elves that walked around, while being watched and judged by the other guests who were curious about this year’s Queen of May.

 

**~ Wheel of the Year ~**

 

Thinking that the later he came the lower his chances were to become Winter King, Thranduil arrived at the entrance only ten minutes before the ring of the first bell. There were only seven other people in front of him. With annoyance he noticed that the elleths were no longer asked to drew a stone, the ellons though still had to get out stone of the purple bag. Each time one of the ellons in front of him drew a stone, he hoped that it would be blue instead of grey, but during all four times, it turned out to be a simple grey one.

 

After he presented his naked body to the guard, he left his royal blue robe open. When he then inserted his hand into the bag, he could feel that there were only five stones left.

 

He tried to feel the paint, but colour was not something he could see with his hands. _One out of five._ _It’s still a slim chance_ _,_ he thought as he decided on the stone that had the smoothest surface and was more circular in shape than the others.

 

“Fuck,” he swore when he pulled his hand out again. His stone was blue.

 

The guard must have heard him because he said, “There is no going back, Winter King. Be at the stage when the second bell rings.”

 

“Don’t worry, the Queen of May will respect your limits,” the other guard added as he placed the crown on his head. The guard thought that Thranduil was just uncomfortable about having to submit to an elleth, and thus further added, “And come Yule, you will be in charge of her.”

 

_That’s my problem,_ Thranduil thought, but did not say anything to the guards. He did not mind being the Winter King now. It certainly was a good way to celebrate his last day as a bachelor. No, what troubled him was that he now would be obliged to also join the Yule celebration as the Winter King, when he was already married to his Gilorndes. He already knew that he would spend some sleepless nights debating between betraying his new wife or betraying his people’s tradition by not showing up on Yule.

 

Having already attended his fair share of Wheel of the Year festivals, he knew that he would not have much time to look around once the first bell rang in about ten minutes. As he looked around he did not know if he was looking for Gilorndes or the Queen of May. Maybe he was hoping that they turned out to be one and the same this year. It would certainly solve his Yule dilemma.

 

Two minutes before the bell rang, he finally found the Queen of May. When he saw her brown hair, he first tried to find excuses. _Maybe_ _Gilorndes_ _also dyed her hair?_ he hoped as he absently moved a hand through his own, currently black hair, but when he looked more closely, he saw that the hair only reached the elleth’s breasts rather than her hips. And Gilorndes would never cut her golden hair, at least not for a simple night of carnal desires.

 

He took one deep breath, and as the air slowly left his lungs he decided that he would worry about having to return as Winter King on Yule once Samhain passed. Today he would just enjoy the moment, the excitement that he felt at every Wheel of the Year festival that would be enhanced by being on stage.

 

After all it was the freedom and the light-heartedness that this festival awoke that made him come here tonight.

 

**~ Wheel of the Year ~**

 

When Esgalcalien heard the second bell ring, she slowly got up from her viewing point. So far, she liked the general atmosphere of the festival. Being a healer, she’d experienced the conservation of the decorum first hand far too often. And sexual desires and activities were taboo topic outside of the festival. At least this was the impression she got, having no close friends who may break the socially acceptable behaviour with her. Thus, for Esgalcalien this Beltane festival felt deliberating. Like chains had been cut and everyone was free to give in to their unorthodox sexual needs, their want for their own or opposite gender.

 

She could see why her mother had attended the festival even though as the seer of the Woodland Realm she was forbidden to give into her carnal desires. _She must have felt even more restricted than I,_ Esgalcalien mused.

 

By the time she’d reached the stage, the Winter King was already there. From the distance, she could see his broad shoulders and well-trained body through his half-open robe. _On_ _e of the warriors,_ she assumed. And when she was standing next to him, her first guess was confirmed by the fine scars that were one his body. _The marks of a soldier of Woodland Realm._ “Hello,” she greeted, trying to sound confident, but feeling that she came across as nervous.

 

“Good evening,” the Winter King returned her greeting. Esgalcalien had the feeling that she’d already heard that voice, but she could not connect it to a face. _Probably o_ _ne of my_ _previous_ _patients. I tended to enough_ _soldiers_ _during the last years._

 

“You’re here, good,” one of the guards from the entrance said. “Here are the rules. First, you,” he was looking directly at Esgalcalien as he spoke, “are to respect the Winter King’s limits and stop when he says the safe word.”

 

“Of course,” she replied with a nod. She’d heard most, if not all, of the proceedings from the rumour mill already.

 

“So what are your limits, Winter King?” the guard questioned.

 

“No marks,” was the simple reply. Thranduil had decided that tonight he would celebrate his last night as a single elf, so he was going all out.

 

“Do you mean no permanent marks? Or all kinds of marks like bruises that will heal in some days’ time?” Esgalcalien asked him to clarify. Some scratch marks on his back one of the things she had in mind for tonight.

 

“No permanent marks. Other marks only were clothing will hide the evidence while they heal,” Thranduil answered. It would not do for someone to see a love bite on his neck. Gilorndes would be livid.

 

“Anything else?” the guard questioned.

 

“No.” Short and to the point.

 

_So he’s kinky?_ Esgalcalien tried to hide her smile, but failed. Her lips raised up on their own volition. She would be able to explore his body like she wanted, while also living out all of her darkest desires she’d so far only fantasized about or others that she saw minutes ago and wanted to try out right away.

 

“What are your safe words?” the guard inquired.

 

“ _Rouge_ and _Noir,_ ” he replied using the Westron words for red and black.

 

“Rouge for a break, Noir for stopping completely?” the guard questioned.

 

The Winter King nodded.

 

“Are you planning to use a gag or other speak-hindering items?” Esgalcalien was asked by the guard.

 

A gag sounded tempting to her, but since he asked the question right after the one about the safe words, she could guess in with direction this conversation was going. If she used a gag they would need to agree on a non-vocal safe word, which would mean that the Winter King would need some freedom of movement. She rather had him bound and free to explore his body than to have him silent but free to defy her exploration.

 

“No,” she answered, shaking her head slightly.

 

“In that case, I'm only left to inform you that if you either ignore the safe words or use a gag, we will stop the scene immediately. I'll leave you now to discuss the scene you want to perform.” With these final words the guard took his leave.

 

Esgalcalien was silent. Contemplating if she should tell the Winter King what she had in mind for tonight. Her plans were not solid yet, her options numerous with the inconsequential limit of the Winter King and the time available to her still unknown. “Do you know how much time we have for the scene?” she asked and only belatedly realised that it gave away her inexperience and youth. Someone who would have attended at least one Wheel of the Year festival would know how much time was available. _Too late,_ she thought and hoped that the Winter King would not change his mind about his limits due to her inexperience.

 

Thranduil was surprised when he heard the question. He expected her to discuss what type of submissive she wanted him to play. _So much for going all out,_ he thought dejectedly but still answered her question. “We have about two hours before the last bell will ring.”

 

_Two hours,_ she mused. _I do not want to come across as a science nerd, so as much as I would like to use the whole time to still my own thirst for knowledge, I should limit it to twenty minutes, thirty at the most._

 

“I would advise to keep the audience in mind,” Thranduil interrupted her musings.

 

“Of course,” she replied. _What to do?_ _—_ _Ah, the guard said something about props._ “Would you accompany me to the available props?” she asked.

 

Like the gentleman he was trained to be, the Winter King held out his arm for her as they walked the ten steps towards the side of the stage where the props for tonight were displayed.

 

Esgalcalien let her hand wander over the display in exploration. A shudder of excited pleasure left her at all the fascinating options at her disposal. _The long and soft bands of silk_ _are_ _perfect to bind the Winter King to the bed_ , she thought. Experimentally, she picked up one of the whips and let it hit the air. _Too unsafe_ _for a newbie like me_ _,_ she decided, but saw two different sized paddles lying close by. When she looked up, she saw that she was being watched. _If I want to surprise him, I better not touch everything I plan to use._

 

When her eyes wandered over the plugs, she remembered to ask, “Have you cleaned yourself internally?” She hoped that he would say no. That way she could use it as an excuse to explore his prostate. Something she had no hope to exam under other conditions. As a female she would never be allowed to professionally exam it as a healer and the average lover would be very unlikely to allow such a touch as ellons generally were a bit skittish about elleths touching such a private and intimate part of them.

 

“I have,” Thranduil replied. He had considered to submit himself to another elon’s care for some hours of tonight as this would be something that Gilorndes never could give to him, so he prepared himself accordingly just in case he would meet someone he would feel comfortable enough to submit to.

 

“You are not against me touching you there?” Esgalcalien asked.

 

“As I said before, everything is fine with me as long as you leave no marks,” he repeated.

 

“Thank you,” she said earnestly.

 

“What kind of Winter King are you desiring? A submissive one, a headstrong one?” Thranduil asked. Time was running out and he wanted to give the watches at least a bit of a show, even if the Queen of May’s inexperience would not make it thrilling for himself.

 

Esgalcalien shook her head. When she heard the question the Prince's examination entered her mind. _But this is what I desire, isn’t it?_ She asked herself and then voiced her decision. “I would like someone who is resisting me where he can by talking back or using the gaps in my commands, but who in the end still submits to my rule,” she said.

 

“As you wish, my Queen,” he said and bowed mockingly.

 

“Exactly like this,” Esgalcalien laughed. Somehow the small gesture made her relax.

 

The third bell rang loudly in her ears. It was time to perform.


End file.
